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Josh Brolin will play Cable in ‘Deadpool 2’ opposite Ryan Reynolds

Hollywood Reporter has made the exclusive announcement that actor Josh Brolin has been cast in the highly anticipated “Deadpool 2” as Cable, a coveted role that Michael Shannon (“Nocturnal Animals”) and David Harbour (“Stranger Things”) were reportedly also in the running for.

Cable was introduced in the “X-Men” comics in 1986 as Nathan Summers, the infant son of Scott Summers, aka Cyclops. Then in 1990 he was reintroduced as the adult Cable in “The New Mutants.” The character was born with telepathic and telekinetic powers.

This means Josh Brolin will be doing double duty in the world of Marvel Comics. He’s also a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the villain Thanos, who after cameo appearances in “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015) will be the principal villain in “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018). But the two roles will not conflict: the Marvel Cinematic Universe films are distributed by Disney, while “Deadpool” and the “X-Men” films are by 20th Century Fox, and they don’t overlap.

“Deadpool 2” is scheduled to begin production in June with Golden Globe nominee Ryan Reynolds returning in the title role as the wisecracking mercenary superhero. David Leitch (“John Wick,” “Atomic Blonde”) is taking the director’s chair this time around. And Zazie Beetz (“Atlanta”) was recently cast as the character Domino.